Bluegrass, a Date and a Supreme

We went out on a REAL date last weekend and had a blast! We took a three hour drive up to Alexandria, VA to see a show at the Birchmere.

First, what an truly awesome place to see a show. I'm usually partial to outdoor venues - we have some particularly great ones around our Tidewater area of Virginia - but the Birchmere is now one of my favorites. It only seats five hundred, giving it a very intimate atmosphere. Plus, everyone is seated at restaurant style tables, and they have a full dinner and bar menu. We ordered a pitcher of Amber Ale from our hometown brewery, Starr Hill. I can't remember the last time I ordered a pitcher of beer.

So who did we see? Ricky Skaggs and his band Kentucky Thunder. Awesome. Just Awesome. You know when you see live music that's so good it brings tears to your eyes? Well this was it.

I saw Ricky Skaggs perform about five years ago, but my better half was deployed at the time and was insanely jealous he missed it. So this past weekend's show was particularly special.

It was the first time I'd seen Skaggs' fiddle player, Andy Leftwich, and WOW was he incredible. They played a version of "Minor Swing" from Leftwich's album...awesome! I added it to my iPod as soon as we got home from the show, hehe. You can hear a clip here.

So I've talked about our date and I've talked about the bluegrass...so that leaves "The Supreme." Curious? Any guesses? Well about halfway through the show, Ricky Skaggs announced that there was a special guest there that night....Justice Scalia and his wife! Sitting only twenty feet from us enjoying the show. Now Justice Scalia and I have little in common when it comes to Constitutional interpretation, but apparently we do have similar taste in great music. Ha, who knew?